Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

Valiant [3]

Arwen walked through the halls of the palace in search of her brother. After the meeting he had disappeared completely, and she hoped to find him and see how he was handling the situation. She walked through one of the more deserted halls when a hand pulled her back making her let out a small yelp of surprise. She turned her head quickly, to find herself face to face with the snake himself, his glare on her making a shudder pass down her spine. But she refused to show the fear she felt as she realized she was now completely alone with this man.

"It was a grave mistake to speak against me, especially since I can tell the King I caught you spying on my chambers in the dead of night. That is what you were doing that night, was it not?" Valiant questioned, his voice holding a threatening tone that did not go unnoticed by Arwen as she tried to rip her arm from his grasp, but found him only tightening his hold.

"I am not sure what you're speaking of Sir." She lied, because while she may have been caught, she knew admitting to it would only cause more trouble.

"You have seen what happens if servants speak out against a knight, what makes you think Uther will be any more inclined to listen to you than he was to your brother?" Valiant asked, a smirk reaching across his face as he saw Arwen's emotions in her eyes. She knew there was no way for her to beat him.

"Is everything alright here?" Another voice reached their ears making both Valiant and Arwen turn their heads to see the figure of Prince Arthur approach their position. Knowing that he had won already, Valiant did not wish to test his luck, so he quickly let go of Arwen's arm as he gave the Prince a smile.

"Of course my lord, I was just accepting Arwen's apology for the part she played in the accusations against me." Arthur didn't miss the smirk that the knight sent Arwen as he turned and walked away from the scene, knowing there wasn't much else he could do to scare the girl with the prince being there.

"Why would he think you had anything to do with that?" Arthur asked as his eyes finally left the retreating form of Valiant and turned to look down at Arwen with a questioning look.

"Two nights ago, Merlin and I caught Valiant feeding the snakes in his shield, and he noticed someone was in the hall. I told Merlin to hide while I handled the situation. With the use of just the right amount of compliments and pleasantries, he quickly forgot what had happened. At least until he saw me earlier today in the council chambers." Arwen explained, not going into too much detail as she stared at the now empty hallway which Valiant had passed through.

"You saw the snakes too?" Arthur asked in surprise. After all that had happened during the meeting with his father, Arthur had started to suspect whether Merlin was telling the truth or just believed he had seen something that hadn't happened.

"Yes, I did." Arwen said, confused by the surprise she saw on his face, but it soon became clear to her. "Don't tell me you actually thought Merlin was lying?" She questioned him with a raised eyebrow, watching him as he gave out a sigh while running his hand through his hair.

"I wasn't sure what to believe anymore. After all, I myself had seen nothing." Arthur told her honestly, confused by the whole set of events that the last twenty four hours had brought him.

"Arthur, the snakes are real. I watched as one of them swallowed a mouse whole. If you fight Valiant tomorrow and gain the upper hand he will use the shield." Arwen tried to reason with him.

"I can't just withdraw from the tournament now, everyone already thinks I'm a coward." Arthur defended growing irritated with the situation of everyone telling him the same thing.

"Really? You can't? Because I don't think that's it." Arwen spoke, her tone taking on a hard edge as she gave Arthur a disappointed look. "You can withdraw and you know it. The truth is you don't want to because your pride is more important to you than your safety or your life. If you took one moment to think you'd see that this isn't just about you. Arthur you are the only heir to the throne of Camelot, should something happen to you, the whole Kingdom will be affected. But none of that matters right? Your people don't matter... As long as your pride is intact." Arwen snapped at him, stunning the Prince into silence, and she didn't wait for him to regain his capability of speech before turning on her heel and walking away from him; infuriated by the arrogance he presented himself with.